Weekend getaway in Buenos Aires, Argentina

This blog post is about our two-night getaway to Buenos Aires, Argentina - the first trip without our kids since we arrived in Chile.

When my parents were staying with us, they offered to take care of William and Jackson for a weekend so Jeremy and I could get away on our own. We jumped at the opportunity and booked a 2-day retreat in Buenos Aires, which is about a two-hour flight from Santiago.

Upon arriving in Buenos Aires we knew we were in a different kind of place - even men greeted other men with a kiss on the cheek, mothers were breast feeding their babies in public (just like back home) and there was a huge undercurrent of creativity that you just don't see in Santiago, with many design houses and unique boutiques boasting Argentinean-made goods. In general, people seemed so relaxed and liberated!

We elected to stay in a hip part of the city, called Palermo Soho - which actually did remind me a little bit of Soho in New York City. We stayed in a small boutique hotel that was a private residence until about 5 years ago. The hotel was definitely not kid-friendly, which was part of the appeal. The hotel had a network of internal courtyards, with quiet places for reading or enjoying an espresso, with a Jacuzzi and a gorgeous dining room where we enjoyed breakfast each morning.

Even though we were only in Buenos Aires for 2 days, we managed to see a whole lot of the city by taking city tours and hitting the hotspots recommended by friends. The architecture in the city is breathtaking and has a real European feel (with a twist) - living up to the claim that it is the Paris of South America. Our favorite spots included strolling through the famous cemetery in Recoleta, attending a tradition tango show, experiencing the night life in Palermo and eating tons of Argentinean beef (which certainly can not be accomplished without a few too many glasses of malbec).

There were lots of unique sights to see, like a giant metal flower sculpture that opens during the daytime and closes at night - a gift to Argentina during the latest economic crisis to help "cheer them up". We also got to experience our first thunderstorm since leaving Canada - as we enjoyed a lunch on a covered terrace in Peurto Manera a dramatic storm blew in, which started off by violently rattling all the sail boats in the harbor and followed with torrential rain, thunder and lightening (note: electrical storms don't happen in Chile, so this was a real treat). To our surprise, once it started to rain it became impossible to convince a taxi to pick us up - it seems the Argentinean cab drivers suddenly become entrepreneurs when it rains and only select fares that meet their strict criteria. Soaked to the bone and worried we would miss our flight back to Santiago, Jeremy eventually cornered a taxi and convinced him to take us if we paid him double the fare (since he claimed the distance we wanted to go wasn't far enough). Despite the slight headache and getting wet, we had no issues getting to our flight with time to spare. If nothing else, I was left slightly impressed by the taxi drivers' ability to adapt their strategy to the sudden spike in demand. Who said the Argentineans don't have a knack for business?!! :)

While flying back to Chile over the impressive yet narrow stretch of the Andes, I noted a slight twinge of nostalgia that I had not felt before. As we descended into the green basin of Santiago, with the sun low in the sky and the gorgeous mountains all around us, it felt good to be "coming home"... back to William and Jackson, back to the eager grandparents, back to our small army of pets, back to our bungalow in Vitacura. It was nice to getaway for a crazy weekend but even better to come back to the things that matter most to us. The good news is that Chile is finally starting to feel like home.

Now it is time to "dry out" - no more red meat and wine for me for a while!

New Years in Los Vilos

Just getting caught up on blog posts…

On Boxing Day we packed up 4 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat and 1 bunny, plus all our related necessities, and headed out to Los Vilos on the coast for 7 nights of vacation. Given the large group of us we decided to take both the Kombi bus (driven by Jeremy, who had to leave over an hour earlier since it only goes a maximum of 85 km/hr) and the Subaru.

Los Vilos is located about 280 km from Santiago, on the coast about half way between Valparaiso and La Serena. The house we rented was in Bahia Azul, a small community of beautiful homes perched on the ragged coastal cliffs, just South of the city of Los Vilos.

Los Vilos itself is a blue-collar town – fairly poor and non-descript, with a lovely beach that is overshadowed by a large industrial conveyor from a nearby chemical processing plant. The best thing about Los Vilos is the seafood. Near the Northern most end of the town along the water’s edge there is a street lined with small restaurants, where enthusiastic waitresses run out and try to wave cars full of people down and convince them to come to their restaurant. During our stay in Los Vilos, Jeremy and I were privileged to go out for dinner at two of these restaurants (with grandparents babysitting the boys) and enjoy the freshest, most delicious seafood we’ve ever tasted. Locos, rieneta, jieva and muscles were our favorite treats, and of course they were paired with delicious home made pisco sours and lots of fresh avocado and tomato.

The house we rented in Los Vilos was spectacular. The house was located on the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, with gorgeous mature gardens filled with flowers and cactus, and a winding path that leads down the rock to the sea, where there was an abundance of tidal pools filled with sea anemones, star fish, crabs and other interesting finds. William and Jackson enjoyed many walks down to the water’s edge, with Nana and Grandpa as well as us, to explore tidal pools, watch for seals and herons, throw rocks (every boy’s favorite past time) and collect various treasures. On New Years Eve, despite the skepticism of my parents, Jeremy and I collected sea salt from the rock faces below and used it as a rub on a wonderful roast destined for the charcoal barbeque – the results were delicious! New Years Eve was spent sipping champagne on the deck overlooking the ocean and watching red lanterns float up into the sky, with the thunder of fireworks in red, white and blue (colours of Chile) bursting over Los Vilos in the distance.

The house was mostly glass and every room boasted a spectacular view, and contained beautiful art objects and collectables, along with all the cultured amenities of home. The couple who owns the house are French (retired from the UN and spending time between Chile and France) and invested so much attention to detail in designing and building their home – it was the first time we really felt comfortable and at home since moving to Chile.

The week in Los Vilos was spent enjoying the views and local walks around Bahia Azul, but also visiting a different beach almost every day in the Kombi, to eat picnic lunches, build sand castles, enjoy long walks and take the occasional wade in the chilly Pacific. One day we ventured northward to Parque Nacional de Fray George, which boasts the only cloud forest North of Valdivia – which is remarkable since it is surrounded by near desert. Unfortunately we sprang a leak in one of our tires on the Subaru while driving the dusty roads of Fray George, but Jeremy impressed us all by changing the tire and getting us all safely to La Serena (about 2.5 hours North of Los Vilos at this point) to get the tire fixed and reinstalled for the equivalent of $6. La Serena is a lovely city with a beautiful historical center filled with squares, cobblestone streets and quaint cafes and restaurants. We enjoyed a seafood dinner there before heading back to Los Vilos and promising ourselves that we’d rent a house in La Serena at some point the near future (especially because there is a Humboldt penguin colony about 1 hour North of La Serena, which would be spectacular to visit). Speaking of wild life, one day we commandeered a fishing boat out of Los Vilos to visit Isla de Lobos to see a healthy colony of 1,400 sea lions. The trip was an adventure in the rough water, but it was worth it seeing the sea lions cuddling, fighting, and jumping in and out of the water as the waves hammered their rocky home. It amazed us how large the male sea lions become and we decided that it was best to keep our distance – although cute from afar, we were not disillusioned. Both William and Jackson loved the visit to the sea lions – the excitement wore Jackson out so much that he took a long yet awkward nap on the way back to port.

It was wonderful to have my parents visiting us over Christmas and New Years. They stayed with us in Santiago until Jan. 19 (last week), so it was lots of fun touring around the surrounding areas and showing them our favorite spots. They toured pretty much every possible destination in Santiago (and now know the city better than we do)… always making it home in time for the kids to wake up from their naps and enjoy a swim with their grandparents. Swimming every day with grandparents has resulted in both William and Jackson growing hugely confident in the water. William can now swim the full length of the pool without water wings and jumps in confidently, always finding his way to the side to hold on when he’s tired. Jackson is the water baby extraordinaire doing summersaults into the water (with water wings), floating on his back and cruising around at top speed with vigorous kicks. William has also mastered riding his bike in the last few weeks and races around the yard without a problem. Jackson is not yet coordinated enough to pedal his bike, but he’s starting to figure it out, as he eagerly wants to keep up with his big brother!

Christmas in Chile

This holiday season we celebrated our first Christmas away from home AND our first Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere. Everything about the lead up to Christmas and Christmas itself was a cultural experience.

1) Christmas Hype: Relative to home, there is very little hype leading up to Christmas - sparse and modest decorations (except in the malls), little if any Christmas music on the radio, an absence of the usual Christmas movies and specials on TV, etc. Also, at home we are accustomed to an endless stream of parties on the weekends throughout December and without friends/family nearby it was very quiet. Combine this with warm weather and it didn't feel like Christmas at all, until Christmas was actually upon us!

2) Work Parties: Our work parties were also very different than in Canada. Jeremy didn't really have an office party and I didn't attend Deloitte's party - long story, but essentially it was late (10 PM-5 AM), far (not actually in the city) and we were not allowed to bring spouses, so I opted out this year - getting lost in the middle of the night in the countryside by myself was something I didn't feel up to risking! Jeremy took William and Jackson to the Kinross kids' party - which was held on two days notice and occurred during the afternoon, on a weekday, in the office. Deloitte had a kids party, but similar to Kinross, it was held on a Friday morning at a theme park and everyone was expected to take their kids for a couple hours, return them to their homes and go to work for 1 PM. Again, I opted out - I couldn't fathom the logistics of doing this for a few hours of benefit and getting myself to work in one piece. Put it this way - we will have a whole new level of appreciation for the Christmas parties when we return to Toronto!

3) Christmas Feast: We surveyed friends and colleagues in an attempt to determine what a traditional Chilean Christmas dinner consists of. As it turns out, there is no typical feast - everyone does something different. We settled on a compromise; a traditional Canadian turkey dinner on Christmas Eve and Chilean BBQ on Christmas Day. Our turkey dinner was somewhat sabotoged by the fact that we couldn't locate a fresh turkey on Christmas Eve (despite earlier assurances that they were common), so we settled on a pre-cooked turkey.

Alison's parents arrived a week before Christmas, so it was wonderful celebrating with family in a different setting. We also hosted some friends who recently relocated to Santiago on Christmas day, which also made it special. Despite the worries of the boys, Santa made it safely from the North Pole to deliver gifts, including a cute black bunny rabbit who William named "Nightmare" - we're hoping he doesn't live up to his name! Santa enjoyed the Crystal (beer) that William left with him along with milk and cookies, figuring that Santa would need extra fuel for his long ride.

We hope you all had a safe and Merry Christmas, where ever you may have been! Although we enjoyed our Chilean Christmas, our thoughts and hearts were with you.